Veterans of Russian dark wave, quite often shocking with their extravagance, occultists NECRO STELLAR for a long time do not require any more representation to domestic public. However, and not only for domestic: the previous album of this collective - " Saturating Cemetery " - has subdued hearts not only of Russian listeners, but also has been warmly met by the European and American audience. In the 30 of the best releases of 2005 in opinion of the biographer of Goth Mick Mercer "Saturating Cemetery " appeared in the first (!) 10, and such influential foreign editions as ZILLO, ORKUS and GOTHIC BEAUTY gave this creation the extremely positive estimations. Tracks of NECRO STELLAR appear in play-lists of the western broadcasts devoted to schwarze scene, and disks of this band now can be found practically in any parts of the globe, starting from Japan and stopping by Brazil and Argentina. The matter is the unique sound of this collective. The leader of the project Yuri Zvezdniy is known as the brilliant master and the expert in work with an analog sound. Together with his colleagues of band he puts horror into listeners, generating chilling up to depth of the soul, or forcing blood to begin to boil a mix from EBM, dark electro and ambient.
The basic musical direction based on sound of the old analog synthesizers, tape processing, physical modeling, guitar drive, magnificent programming, generously seasoned with naturalistic noise and sounds, a different sort of anxious rustles, vinyl effects, industrial Low Fi loops, iron sheets, ominous jingling of scythe and tribal-percussion of human bones, put listener in a mysterious atmosphere of a dark wood of the human consciousness.
The variety of vocal components gives the sounding of an album the unique, bright, expressive, sharp-sensual painting. Here are cutting-through ears vocoder chorals replaced by quiet open pathetic singing of the soloist, and gentle, sometimes ethereal motives - wild growling of Anastasia Podnebesnaya.
Considering an unanimous opinion of the western critics, it is possible to say, that unique style of performance and the own style of this band which are out of habitual frameworks of the modern electro music, allows to tell about creativity of NECRO STELLAR as of the most interesting phenomenon which has arisen on the ground of their country's schwarze stage. The style of this collective some conditionally name "VooDoo Electro", actually represents difficultly giving in to the description symbiosis of kraut, old school electro and modern electro, some moments seems like trance and experimental.
The band have co-operated with many known Russian electronicians. Some of them, in particular Moscow violinist Evgeny Voronovsky from CISFINITUM, took part in record of "Pulsing Zero".
Besides the unique material represented by the band, essential interest for the listeners is the results of teamwork of NECRO STELLAR with pioneers of British electronics ATTRITION, Australians ANGEL THEORY and gifted American divine UNWOMAN. You will find all this on the new album of NECRO STELLAR - Pulsing Zero".

CONCEPT:

"The album is dedicated to secrets of time as the unique phenomenalism, hidden in the reverberation and silence of undivided void. Total absence displays absolute and nonchalant invariability, which secrecy presents time secret as a game of decomposing interval, like broken toy repeating: NIX-NIX-NIX". Time destruction removes cause and consequence, and the consciousness itself, as a great idea of perfection. A fairy rotation of an absolute zero circle in the conception of this album, appears as a broken clock deliverance exultation. They are slow and go fast by their own free will, discover unknown space contained of futile and invariable clock hands opposite moving. So, you see The Pulsing Zero. It remains as a hidden center of appearance reflections merging and each hour and minute actions, on time limit and sunset. When devised day and night are over, when earth and sky are free in moving the different ways, the world gets a peace and condition of unity.

The essence of things, hidden in the reflection and shadow, comes to limits of the world and the sense, creating the world. The causality, enclosed into shape, can't establish simplicity of happening, as the real and only existing condition. So, the time destructing and clock hands are moving opposite. The 13 songs create the circle, because the time funeral is beforehand. Minutes and hours are ready to the burial; last sparkling instant is trampled into autumn filth. PULSING ZERO undividedly reigns into immovable pupil of The Morning Stars reflected eyes ("Lucifer Suddenly Rising"). It is the second direction of the album.It becomes white, because The Morning Star's shining eyes White Light gives a peace to division and unity. Being into united instant of an idea, it lights up the essence of things which are in the immovable interval between the past and the future ( Novena").

The third direction becomes red, because opening the door, we penetrate the Red desire of The Beast. ( Satellite of Satan").

The emancipated desire, given by NECRO STELLAR, comes into the world, naturalizing it the different ways. The earth, as the real mother and the bride of The Beast, takes a value gift - The Red Ruby from the hands of its son and husband - The Beast, living over the boundary of Red. So, going by a steps of an ascent, it gets rid of the shroud of clear idea, removing the cause of mind itself, and acquires the holiness of the highest longing. Water, existing inside the fire is hidden, secret, always flowing and calling. It goes to the limit of an only moment, into the endless, uninterrupted and unthinkable sweetness - the sweetness of The White Milk coming out of mouth and eyes of The Beast ("Chavajoht - Over the Boundary of the Red").

The fourth direction has no tinge and color; it also has no shape and number. The fourth direction equals to total zero. It is the circle in the center of the cross-road ( Medio Circulo Cruas"). The fourth direction is The Moon. It moves in our dream, being truly not borne. The Moon becomes The White Wolf, and choosing the circle as a real shape, it becomes The Moon of Gone Away Forebears. The Moon is immovable, The Moon stays everywhere. Bathing into The White Light of The Morning Star, The Moon becomes the heating bitch. It draws with its blood a figure cross in the center of the cross-road of your head. Its open body flowing out of brims, its plenitude becomes a penetration of direct way, and the Seven Vales of Infernal Space are coming down the earth ( On the River"). Thus, the Moon's body, completed in itself plenitude, becomes the key, put in the center of human's brain and opens the chasm entrance.

The last fifth direction is comprehended by the memory constancy in the Ancestors Kin Rings constellation ("Over Grave Immortality"). The peculiarity of tragic time funeral warmed up by NECRO STELLAR is aggravated by other mourning event - the bloody-red landscape of XX century, is cracking under the dry onslaught of new time ground.

The expectations of millions, belief in light ideals of the future, with the bullet inside the heart in Stalingrad trenches, with the smell of camp crematory stove, and with feeling of a cold unconsciousness of the life end on a hospital bad for dying, - NECRO STELLAR creates the light memory obelisk for all gone away.

For all, who spent their life being true to themselves, to their heroes, to million of their deaths, which showed the world the example of the prodigious heroism and tenacity ( Equation of an Autumn Equinox"). It is no mere chance that memorial is dedicated to Russia and Germany ( Reflection (Russia 1917-1988)", The Last Autumn of Helen Griss (Germany 1914-1946)"). Either this songs or the songs of White Tranquility" album, are dedicated to all dead during the second world war, allow to understand how the disincarnate mind of ancestors is close to our, living inside us, being us, fostering our heart and regain our spirits to a new unknown heights and perfections."
Yuri Zvezdniy
29.12.2005

REVIEWS:

"Pulsing Zero" pre-release demo
After their strictly gorgeous Saturating Cemetery' album mixed fertile Russian atmospherics with a wicked, snakelike tendency to uproot expectation I'm not surprised this lively post-dance frolic has continued to grow. This CD-R I have received seems to fall somewhere between an album Pulse Zero' I haven't seen and the next. White Tranquillity.'
Only Moon' is frilly pop dance given an ominous kick by the dark vocals, but it whips around chasing its own scaly tail, and we can but hop around thrilled by its seductive charms.
Attrition certainly think so, because they've also supplied a remix with a cleaner angle of attack. Their own Dante's Kitchen' is then remixed by Necro Stellar, made sleek but disturbed like an assassin covered in poo, and Angel Theory's Black & Blue' also gets the supremely woe-bedecked treatment.
The Last Autumn Of Helen Griss (Germany 1914-1946)' is scary, as sounds twinkle then crash and an air of doom circulates, like a fairy tale in which a war breaks out and Angel; Theory then remix it with cleverly detached decorum which make sit scarier still. Unwoman's dancey remix of The 7 Days Of Da Kapa Preta' is robotoid-thrombosis, and then suddenly we have On The River', a fizzy ferret of a tune which scampers along like a burning Goth corpse, dipping vocals sparring with the elliptical curves of the synth. The Wandering Cross Of Crossroad' is harsh and chasing you with giant knives. Don't look back!!!!
Equation Of Autumn Equinox' goes for a dance pulse with more orderly vocals, sustained in a frosty gel and shows they can make sudden shifts from the unruly to the seething and sensible, with the end result being a crafty commercial conflagration. Circle The Ring' then scuttles around like senile snails on speed until it evened out into some cadaverous orchestral sequence.
The final tracks take on a traditional resonance, with folk strains mixing into the programmed backing. The Pictures Of The Russian Village (Part 2) - Flying Farther Away - Dissolving In Heaven' is exquisitely dusty and feathery with a quiet, mysterious beauty . The Pictures Of The Russian Village (Part 5) - Leaving Each Moment, I have Stay Forever. Have stayed forever I freezing in still movement' has twittering birds and limp, maudlin guitar beneath stern German demands from war footage (I presume), but then a glowing spirit emerges atop a steadily stomping dance and it all ends up a bit Frankie Goes To Sergio Leone Conventions, bizarre but delightful.
They leave on this record with Birds Flying South' which is a cover version of Staruha Mha, if I read the sleeve correctly, and it almost sounds like Russian aboriginal howl which then becomes a thickening laconic pop song and was the only song here which didn't thrill me, but it's still an evocative hint of something else.
I'm not sure what to say about this really, as it isn't something you can nip out and buy. It is genuinely exciting, and of course you should investigate their music and while there still doesn't seem to be an English version of the website if you can find their records you must try them. They are one of those bands you can genuinely say stand apart, and you will be happy standing alongside.Mick Mercer

"Pulsing Zero" CD
Majestic, and rousing, but also very mixed, this album moves away from the simple exploratory mysteries of the Saturating Cemetery album and goes off on more of a forthright tangent, showcasing more their weird existence on a small ice-bound bridge between the Industrial and Electro worlds.
In this supposedly narrow space they caper contentedly, using spacey vocals on the droll, chiming Lucifer Suddenly Rising, creating a creepy atmosphere but often with a delightfully wicked intention, as proved when the dance vein goes off on a crude throb at the end, the vocals lashing out, snarling and snickering. Pulsing Zero undulates prettily with its Techno chatter, where jaunty male vocals give a traditional melodious welcome and sneakier female sounds whisper beneath. The way it bustles along with lightly flaying offshoots on the keys is brilliant fun and its really hard not to imagine some whiskery old Cossack handling the vocals such is the stately nature of the vocals, but that would be too weird. Novena is calmer, but with a plaintive melody snaking over the resolute rhythm, so it manages to be quite a curious little mood piece
Satellite Of Satan again has mental bellowing over menacing guitar with furry vocals delivered in imposing isolation, then the song bucks and twists and hammers along, returning to this groaning chorus which is seriously impressive. By total contrast Medio Circulo Cruas is a whirling, echoing madness that cautiously enters the ambient camp, unties the tents and runs away. On The River then brings the various elements together, with a crusted beat embellished with clattering percussion, mooing and gasping, grasping vocals vaulting the choppy crosscurrents,
The Last Autumn Of Helen Griss (Germany 1914-1946) is initially something of a weird harangue, with occasionally decorous female vocals climbing towards the light in this grey soup of a song, of mild clattering but it becomes a frightening piece with startled and scared vocals set against a religious massed vocal, like an uncaring choir. Enail. Part 2 (Chavajoht Over The Boundary Of The Red) goes more in a cavorting Industrial direction, hacking around with lighter synth enlivening lumbering doom, and Equation Of Autumn Equinox is fast, heady synth hedonism . They pour over a deep, soft padded rhythm with higher synth slithering cockily across the surface, and another outrageously crafty chorus just bursts right out from the main body of the beastliness. Its so catchy its daft, and away youll bounce, delirious.
Reflection (Russia 1917-1988) is even funnier, because they can have great verve in their traditional work, and here you have old Russian ghosts sliding and gliding over pleasing keyboards and rumpty-tumpy grumpy backing, with martial drums going haywire. Its teeming with ideas you wouldnt normally experience and easy to become lost in. It even pulls back into less attacking, rambling passages but retains a weird character all their own.
Over Grave Immortality has more gripping, gruelling melodic mayhem with serious male vocals walking proudly before the stocky, threshing electronics. Circle The Ring is a sometimes horrific, sometimes bewitching cover of Moon Far Away music, The 7 Days Of Da Kapa Preeta Dance Demon remix by Unwoman is twinklier, introducing a scathing bounce, with plenty of fun to be had with the vocals, the male all grandfatherly and boomy, the female swishing and swaying. Its a mad thing, while the Angel Theory of The Last Autumn Of Helen Griss only emphasises what disturbing but superb music this is. They close with an Attrition remix of Only Moon which also purrs deliciously with more humour and crazed hypnotic joy and this sometimes exhausting, but always compelling album should leave you quite startled.
A natural place for otherworldly excellence, from the austere to the exotic, making the Gothic relevance all the more obvious, Russia really does offer us special bands and there cant be many bands anywhere more special than this.Mick Mercer

A quick word to share this discovery. Necro Stellar is a Russian collective team being active since a long time. I've just had my ears on their last realease : "Pulsing Zero" and it's amazing how this work go thru a very wide range of what Dark Electronic genres can offer.
As soon as the CD begins, on the first track (Lucifer suddenly rising) you travel from lyric darkwave to Yelworc like style...AWESOME !!! Also, there are lots and lots of very interesting sound design works that takes you far away from overused synths presets. Vocal mangling, Analog synths modulations,...a real delight.
They also remind us that, years ago, Industrial used to mean Experimentation with neverheard sounds, building moods...well, something more interesting than "any rythm thru distortion" shit. I remember a very strange feeling when I heard the most experimental track of this album "the last autumn of hellen Griss (germany 1914-1946)" while I was driving back from the South of France and the red fairy was sleeping...
So, don't wait, take the time to visit their new MySpace page and order this album.
I repeat : Freshness is not in Germany or Belgium anymore...Popman ("Electraumatisme" radio show, Radio Attitude, France)